Home
by kairi morigan
Summary: Prompt fic. Sakura's inner monologue on the things that mean home.


My first try at Sakura's POV. Internal monologues are always fun.

Naruto does not belong to me, much as I might wish it did. Then again, I'd probably end up having to up the rating :D

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Sakura woke slowly. Woke wishing she hadn't. Everything hurt.

She surveyed her surroundings as best she could without opening her eyes. Because they hurt too. She was moving; a gentle up, down, forward motion, as familiar to her as breathing. She was being carried through the trees.

Something tickled her face and she cracked an eye open. Messy silver hair greeted her. Messy silver hair could mean only one thing. Kakashi. She wondered if he ever got tired of carrying her around.

Slowly, the memories of how she ended up like this began to filter back into her mind. A mission, an easy mission, to help Team Kakashi get back into the swing of things. All they had to do was travel to Lightning Country and deliver a scroll, wait for the response, and then carry it home. It had gone fine at first, but on the way back they'd been attacked.

A missing-nin from Sand had gathered up a motley band of civilian outlaws and ruffians. The missing-nin they could've handled, the civilians they could've handled. Both together had been almost too much.

Four shinobi moved gracefully through the group of civilians, kunai flashing, jutsus popping into and out of being. Every time they got bogged down with a group of them though, the missing-nin would flash in, attacking.

Naruto had his shadow clones to fight with him, Sai had his ink creatures for support, and Kakashi knew 1000 jutsu. She could crack the ground under the feet of her opponents, but she couldn't do it when her friends were nearby.

Up, down, forward. Up, down, forward. He didn't seem to be in any particular hurry, so they must have gotten away clean.

Up, down, forward. Maddeningly rhythmic, endlessly soothing. She was going to fall asleep again.

No, she told herself. You're going to pass out again. You should probably stay awake, in case there's a concussion involved.

Her fighting style just wasn't suited for multiple attackers. All the considerable power she could summon from her tiny frame, and it did her no good. She needed to learn more genjutsu to compensate. Something that didn't require a lot of chakra, but worked on multiple targets at once. She'd have to ask Kurenai when they got back.

Up, down, forward. She'd gotten overwhelmed eventually. Luckily, the civilians seemed more the hand to hand type than anything else. So she probably wasn't bleeding to death. She wondered who had saved her. That had to stop. Not the saving part, but the getting to where it was necessary.

A gentle breeze blew past her, bathing her in the sweet, spicy scent of the Konoha forests. It was a smell she always associated with home. They might still be a day's journey from the big main gates, but home was the forest. It sheltered them, fed them, hid them. It had always been there and would always be, and it was the best mission support she'd ever received.

The wind blew a bit harder, and something brushed across her lips, causing her to flinch. That had to be the most irritating sensation. She cracked her eye open again. Dark green trees raced by her field of vision, mostly hidden by the mop in her face. She closed her eyes again.

Up, down, forward. She was losing her battle against the drowsiness. She knew she should stay awake, should fight the urge, but it was too hard. She was surrounded by the scents of Konoha. She could hear the sounds of her team all around her, protecting and guarding each other. She was being carried by arms that had always meant safety to her. A strong grip on her legs as her upper body rested against his back. Comforting warmth.

Up, down, forward. The wind blew and more ghostly fingers felt their way across her face, caressing her cheekbones. An almost perfect moment. It wasn't her injuries that called for the qualifier though.

She cracked both her eyes open one last time.

'Sensei?"

Kakashi turned his head and glanced back at her, 'Hm?'

'You need a haircut.'

Then her eyelids became too heavy, more than she could handle in her present state. As her eyes slid closed and her mind slid away, she felt Kakashi begin to shake a bit.

Silent laughter. The scent of trees, Naruto and Sai arguing, up, down, forward. Warmth, strong hands, the sun and the breeze.

Home.

* * *

Looking forward to any constructive criticisms that fly my way.

Prompt was 'Hair' by the way. I'm bad about not really bringing the prompt subject in till the end.


End file.
